Kodak price cut on 120 film

MattKing · Nov 9, 2023

Alan Edward Klein said:
But Kodak has many competitors.

Not in colour film manufacturing.

Helge said:
Or even worse (*selfmoderation* warning: Unwarranted doom and gloom) that they are purging stock and stopping production.

Or more likely, a necessary adjustment to prevent current dated film from becoming stale dated.
Kodak Alaris has to estimate ahead of time the demand for film, place an order for manufacture with Eastman Kodak and then pay for the film before they can sell a single roll. Higher prices mean higher profits which allows them to take more risks and order, pay for and sell more film at a profit. Lower prices forces them to take fewer risks and order, pay for and sell less film at a lower profit.

pentaxuser · Nov 9, 2023

Anon Ymous said:
Would you mind naming their competitors in C41 films?

Well Harman Phoenix on 1 Dec if we can believe some speculation in that famous thread

pentaxuser

Anon Ymous · Nov 9, 2023

pentaxuser said:
Well Harman Phoenix on 1 Dec if we can believe some speculation in that famous thread

pentaxuser

I'd probably be delighted.

miha · Nov 9, 2023

With 3 rolls of 120 GOLD 200 left in my fridge I find this to be good news.

George Mann · Nov 9, 2023

If only I had a good medium format camera. They are so expensive these days.

Should I post a request to buy one for $10?

GregY · Nov 9, 2023

George Mann said:
If only I had a good medium format camera!

You could buy one with all the new savings from the price reduction

George Mann · Nov 9, 2023

GregY said:
You could buy one with all the new savings from the price reduction

In about 10 years perhaps.

GregY · Nov 9, 2023

George Mann said:
In about 10 years perhaps.

there is an amazing amount of 645, 6x6, 6x7, around for less than $500....

Saganich · Nov 9, 2023

Kino said:
Whatever the cause of the price hike, it certainly put the damper on my purchasing film and probably did for others as well.

Yeah, film is expensive by it's nature, but when it becomes so expensive it alienates a notable segment of the user base, profit margins need to be pragmatically reassessed.

Yup, I stopped using TriX almost 2 years now because of the prices.

George Mann · Nov 9, 2023

GregY said:
there is an amazing amount of 645, 6x6, 6x7, around for less than $500....

They would have to be in good working condition, have good optics (both performance wise and condition), and be under $200!

I am very poor these days.

GregY · Nov 9, 2023

George Mann said:
They would have to be in good working condition, have good optics (both performance wise and condition), and be under $200!

I am very poor these days.

who knows, you may stumble upon a Yashicamat or Minolta Autocord in that range at some swap shop or locally.....

George Mann · Nov 9, 2023

GregY said:
who knows, you may stumble upon a Yashicamat or Minolta Autocord in that range at some swap shop or locally.....

I have been looking for one for many years. They all have a serious defect (bad optics and shutter issues for instance).

Pioneer · Nov 9, 2023

Based on what has already happened to these prices I anticipate that it is not over yet. I just ordered a couple of more boxes of Ektar. Hopefully it will last for a while though 20 sheets can go quickly.

brbo · Nov 9, 2023

Kodak Alaris says it's not because of lower demand, but because they take opportunity to lower the prices whenever they can!

Andrew Church, Kodak Alaris’s EMEA business manager, told Kosmo Foto: “There is no general price drop but we are running some end of year promotions on some 120 films. These films have been reduced to our distributor customers by approximately the amount shown in the table:

Cat #	Description	£
1075597	5 Pack 120 GOLD 200 FILM	-35%
1808674	5 Pack 120 PORTRA 160 FILM	-10%
8731200	5 Pack 120 EKTACHROME E100 FILM	-10%
8572273	5 Pack TMX 120 T-MAX 100 FILM	-35%
8568214	5 Pack TMY 120 T-MAX 400 FILM	-20%
1153659	5 Pack TX 120 TRI-X 400 FILM	-28%

He added: “Hopefully the distributors will pass on the full reductions, it may depend on the levels of inventory they are currently holding.”

Church said the reduced prices were not because of a fall in demand for medium format. “120 sales are fairly steady recently, but we will take an opportunity to reduce prices if we can.”

(source: kosmofoto.com)

BrianShaw · Nov 9, 2023

I like those numbers… time to go shopping… if the savings does get passed along to us.

pentaxuser · Nov 9, 2023

brbo said:
Kodak Alaris says it's not because of lower demand, but because they take opportunity to lower the prices whenever they can!

Andrew Church, Kodak Alaris’s EMEA business manager, told Kosmo Foto: “There is no general price drop but we are running some end of year promotions on some 120 films. These films have been reduced to our distributor customers by approximately the amount shown in the table:

Cat # Description £

1075597 5 Pack 120 GOLD 200 FILM -35%

1808674 5 Pack 120 PORTRA 160 FILM -10%

8731200 5 Pack 120 EKTACHROME E100 FILM -10%

8572273 5 Pack TMX 120 T-MAX 100 FILM -35%

8568214 5 Pack TMY 120 T-MAX 400 FILM -20%

1153659 5 Pack TX 120 TRI-X 400 FILM -28%

He added: “Hopefully the distributors will pass on the full reductions, it may depend on the levels of inventory they are currently holding.”

Church said the reduced prices were not because of a fall in demand for medium format. “120 sales are fairly steady recently, but we will take an opportunity to reduce prices if we can.”

(source: kosmofoto.com)

Did he say why KA were in a position to reduce prices as in the case of these reductions above, they were simply some end of year promotions but why bother with end of year promotions if not in the least required to do so, I wonder?: Because the end of year is Christmas time and its "good will to all men" time perhaps ?

pentaxuser

warden · Nov 9, 2023

MattKing said:
Or more likely, a necessary adjustment to prevent current dated film from becoming stale dated.

Seems reasonable to me. FPP has two of these films on "short date sale" now.

Alan Edward Klein · Nov 9, 2023

Anon Ymous said:
Would you mind naming their competitors in C41 films?

MattKing said:
Not in colour film manufacturing.

Or more likely, a necessary adjustment to prevent current dated film from becoming stale dated.
Kodak Alaris has to estimate ahead of time the demand for film, place an order for manufacture with Eastman Kodak and then pay for the film before they can sell a single roll. Higher prices mean higher profits which allows them to take more risks and order, pay for and sell more film at a profit. Lower prices forces them to take fewer risks and order, pay for and sell less film at a lower profit.

I was referring to other film manufacturers in general who are their competitors not specifically one type of film although KA lowered their prices on Gold 100 as well as many BW emulsions. (See post #39).

Regarding Kodak Ektar, a superior color negative film, why shouldn't they charge whatever they charge for such a good film? I don't hear Apple users of the iPhone complain about the 45% gross profit they make on their phones while other companies have to settle for a lot less. In any case what is the "right" price for Ektar film? I'm sure if people stop paying, they'll lower prices for it as well. Recall what I said earlier. It's both the seller and the buyer that determines a price. A price is high only when buyers stop buying. Then the seller will lower it. How else do you determine what price is the right price?

brbo · Nov 9, 2023

35% is a lot.

Wonder how they were able to do that, given that Eastman Kodak is price squeezing the poor Alaris. Before, Alaris was barely breaking even, not they've decided that they want to bankrupt themselves. Out of pure love for us. Respect!

Arcadia4 · Nov 9, 2023

brbo said:
Kodak Alaris says it's not because of lower demand, but because they take opportunity to lower the prices whenever they can!

Andrew Church, Kodak Alaris’s EMEA business manager, told Kosmo Foto: “There is no general price drop but we are running some end of year promotions on some 120 films. These films have been reduced to our distributor customers by approximately the amount shown in the table:

Cat # Description £

1075597 5 Pack 120 GOLD 200 FILM -35%

1808674 5 Pack 120 PORTRA 160 FILM -10%

8731200 5 Pack 120 EKTACHROME E100 FILM -10%

8572273 5 Pack TMX 120 T-MAX 100 FILM -35%

8568214 5 Pack TMY 120 T-MAX 400 FILM -20%

1153659 5 Pack TX 120 TRI-X 400 FILM -28%

He added: “Hopefully the distributors will pass on the full reductions, it may depend on the levels of inventory they are currently holding.”

Church said the reduced prices were not because of a fall in demand for medium format. “120 sales are fairly steady recently, but we will take an opportunity to reduce prices if we can.”

(source: kosmofoto.com)

Thanks good info, no discount on Portra 400 , 800 or Ektar, (although ektar is the one film in 120 where full or part packs are often on a deal). Takes gold etc below march 23 prices (25% increase), which even then looked like a rise too far for the target market

GregY · Nov 9, 2023

BrianShaw said:
I like those numbers… time to go shopping… if the savings does get passed along to us.

yes... "if the savings does get passed along to us."

warden · Nov 9, 2023

GregY said:
yes... "if the savings does get passed along to us."

I'm thinking it will. All it takes is one major seller like B&H to pass along the lower price and the others will likely fall in line.

GregY · Nov 9, 2023

warden said:
I'm thinking it will. All it takes is one major seller like B&H to pass along the lower price and the others will likely fall in line.

i'm watching their prices.... 35% off TMX would put a smile on my film fridge......

Prest_400 · Nov 9, 2023

warden said:
I'm thinking it will. All it takes is one major seller like B&H to pass along the lower price and the others will likely fall in line.

And then again most people will purchase from the lower price sources if possible. I am curious about Europe, where we have a bit more heterogeneous market and I did see prices increase in 120 recently. Pity for those sales points that might not have the margin to decrease it much and purchased it at the high point. In one store here Gold 200 is more expensive than Portra 160 (which at exp 8/24 is at an older lower price) and both are still in stock.

Nordfoto lists also the 10% off Ektachrome. 99€ a pro pack, quite a bit ahead of Ektar. Recently saw some postings about why Xpro slide film hasn't been seen much around, well, it's premium price!

Discussing competition, Fuji is nowhere to be seen here. I recall recently reading that a batch of Fujichrome should reach the western markets in the following month.

abruzzi · Nov 9, 2023

GregY said:
yes... "if the savings does get passed along to us."

$40 for a 5 pack of TMX at B&H--that seems better than it was (though I honestly don't remember what it was a month ago.)

Kodak price cut on 120 film

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